Improvement in apparatus for mixing hydrocarbons with air and burning the same



'I'. C. MENSI'N-GA.

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FREDERIK C. MENSINGA, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR MIXING HYDROCARBONS WITH AIR AND BURNINGTHE SAME.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 209,825, MCG NOVOlllbCI12, 1878; LPDICl-OU '51011 March 12, i377.

To all whom t may concern.'

Beit known that I, FREDERIK GoNs'rANrYN MENsINGA, ofthe city, county,and State of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement indevices for forming a mixture of petroleum or of other hydrocarbons withair, and of applying the same to the production of heat, of which thefollowing speciiication is a full description, reference being had tothe accompanyingdrawings, Figures 1 and 2, forming part hereof.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to the mode of mixing 1 petroleum or otherhydrocarbons vwith air, which mixture I choose to call hydrocarbonairmixture, which said mixture, whenignited, furnishes a safe, cheap, andcleanly means of producing and applying heat in any desired quantity, isnot a gas, and is not to be confounded with petroleumvgas or otherexplosive gases, nor with spray of petroleum, or of other' hydrocarbons,whether such spray is produced through the force of air, of steam, or inany other manner.

The product of my invention is atmospheric'A air saturated with ahydrocarbon, burns, and is consumed immediately when ignited, and israther like a fog or mist, which may be blown away, and is of anentirely different nature from either spray or gas.

In my mixture atmospheric air is the essential andl main ingredient, thehydrocarbon serving only to saturate such air and thereby render ithighly inflammable.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents my devicefor preparingand applying the petroleum-air mixture, with the interior arrangementexposed to view, and this device Ichoose to call a mixen Fig. 2represents my mixer as connected and in combination, when in use, withreservoirs ot' petroleum and compressed air, and with other apparatus;and the arrows in said figure indicate the course or direction of thepetroleum and compressed air when the apparatus is in use.

In Fig. 1, O represents the orifice or mouth of the mixer, from whichthe petroleum-air mixture is forced. This orifice may be made ofplatinum or other material which will resist vgreat heat.

through which the compressed air is supplied and brought in contact withthe petroleum at or near the orilice O.

The petroleum is supplied through tube D, which is a movable pipe ortube incased in another stationary tube, C, in such a manner that itslides easily forward and backward', yet in an air-tight manner, toprevent the escape of air or petroleum, to accomplish which purpose saidtube D is oiled, and is wrapped or enveloped `with an air-tight packingof rubber or other material at or near L-the junction of the stationary`tube C with the body of the mixer M, which is a funnel or other shapedhollow pocket or receiver, which is filled with the compressed aircoming throughthepipe B.

.The tube D may also be provided with a point 'ot' platinum or otherinfusible material, A, to

prevent it from melting.

E represents a cock to regulate the supply of compressed air, and G acock to regulate the supply of petroleum. F represents the points ofconnection of the mixer with other apparatus when invuse, and may beprovided with screw-threads for that purpose.

It may be necessary to placeat the extremity toward F ofthe tube C anadjustable screw or bridge, connecting the tubes-G and D,wh ereby themixer may be firmly held in the desired position on the tube D, so thatthe pressure of the compressed air iowin g through B may not force themixer forward.

In Fig. 2, P represents a reservoir for holdyin g compressed air, whichis supplied by means ot' an ordinary forcingpump, J, through a pipe ortube, V, which is provided with two cocks, It, by means of which theair' may be confined or not, as desired. NV represents a manometer,connected with the tube V and the reservoir P, to indicate the pressureofthe air. Q, represents a reservoir for holding the petroleum, which issupplied through the orifice or opening U.

The compressed air in the reservoir P is conveyed, in the firstinstance, through the pipe or tube K, which is provided with a cook, X,by means of which the supply of compressed air may be regulated.

At I the course of the compressed air flowing through K is divided intwo directions-1 B represents a pipe or tube,

in one through the pipe or tube Z to B, in the other direction throughthe pipe or tube S at the connection N to the petroleum-reservoir Q.

The petroleum is conveyed` from the petroleum-reservoir by means of thepipe V through the opening H to D.

All or any of the eonnect-ing-pil'ies may be of metal, rubber, or othersuita-ble material; but the pipe Z must be made of some flexiblematerial, or else of adjustable metal pipes, so that the mixer maybeslightly moved forward or backward, if desired, after the mixer isconnected with the other apparatus at F.

When in action the petroleum is forced up-` ward through the pipes Y andD by means of the compressed air, which flows into the reservoir Qthrough S to the oriiiceA, where itis met by the compressed air flowingthrough Z and B, and is mingled therewith, which mixture, after forcingits way through the small orifice O, is reduced to an impalpable mistor. fog, which may then be ignited and applied to the object to beheated. The intensity of the heat may be regulated by increasing ordiminishing the supply of petroleum-air mixture by means of the cocks,whileI the proper mingling of the petroleum with the air at A may beeffected by slightly moving forward or backward the mixer.

The pressure ot' air in the petroleum-reservoir and in the mixer must bekept about the same, for too much pressure in the mixer would preventthe petroleuln from coming forward through the pipe D, and too muchpressure in the reservoir Q would flood the mixer, thereby preventingthe proper action of the compressed air coming through the pipe B at theorifice O. This may be easily regulated by means of the various cocks.

It will be advisable in most instances to separate the space containingthe reservoirs l and Q and their connecting parts from the balance ofthe apparatus by means of a partition or wall, T, Fig. 2, ot stone,metal, or othernon-inflammable material, both as a precaution againstfire from the burning petroleum-air mixture and to prevent the escapingheat of the latter from affecting the petroleum and compressed-airreservoirs.

The forcing-pump J will in the first instance have to be worked by hand;but in cases where the heat is applied to the production of motivepower, the latter may, through a suitable arrangement, be connected withthe pump J, or made to compress air in solne other way, and thus supplythe reservoir I).

In its application, my invention will be found useful for heatingpprposes in general, and, among others, for boilers, stea1n-engines,cars, locomotives, steamboats, &c., as well as in the various industrialand mechanical arts, like blacksmithing, plumbing, smelting, &c.--inshort, wherever safe, cheap, and cleanly fuel is desired.

The following are among the advantages of my invention that through itthe intensity of the heat may be easily and speedily regulated andgraded at any time in any degree, or instantaneously cut olf, by simplyregulating the supply ofpetroleum-air mixture. Cleanliness andeheapness.Y It does not produce any smoke nor leave any ashes, cinders,or dirt, as the petroleum-air mixture is wholly self-consuming 5 itrequires little orno attention in the way of kindling, Svc., after theappara-tus is once started. lts great saving of valuable room, a-s insteamboats, Cac., where, in place of bulky quantities of coal and wood,in my invention only a comparatively small space is .needed for storingthe necessary quantity ot' y petroleum. Its safety, not only by reasonof not producing sparks, but also by reason of its non-explosiveness,for in my invention the pressure of the compressed air on the petroleumin the petroleu11i-reservoir will prevent the expansion and developmentof gases.

The basis ot' the tire in my invention is not explosive gas, butpetroleum-air mixture, as herein described, which, in burning, isinstantaneously consumed.`

In the preceding part of this specification of my invention I haveconfined myself to petroleum as one of the principal ingredientstherein, because that oil is probably the cheapest and adapted in myinvention to the greatest variety of uses; but should it be foundadvisable, for some or all purposes, to substitute some other oil orliquid, like alcohol, turpentine, camphenc, or other hydrocarbon in theplace of petroleum, such substitution may be easily made withoutsubstantially varying my invention.

I claim as my inventionl. In a hydrocarbon-air mixer or Yaporizer inwhich a jet of petroleum or other hydrocarbon is forced into or througha stu-rounding compressed-air current, the combination of the mixer orburner, the tube B, provided with stop-cock E, rigidlyconnected to themixer, and communicating with the compressed-air reservoir by a flexibletube, the tube C, rigidly connected with the mixer, and the tube D,provided with stop-cock G, leading from the oilreservoir through thetube C to the mixer, whereby the latter is iliade adjustable and thesupply of air and oil is regulated, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the mixer, having connections as described, ot'the compressedair reservoir, the air-pipes K and S, the coupling I,andthe oil-reservoir, whereby the air is furnished to the mixer andoil-reservoir simultaneously, substantially as described.

FREDERIK G. MENSINGA.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR PALMER, EDWD. E. WATERS.

